Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

A RSSB initiate talks about their disillusionment with Gurinder Singh Dhillon

Yesterday I got the following email message from someone who has become disillusioned with the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Gurinder Singh Dhillon. The RSSB guru is mired in financial wrongdoing that's been extensively reported on by the Indian financial press.  UPDATE: Originally this post was titled "A Gurinder Singh Dhillon initiate talks about their disillusionment." Obviously since this person was initiated in 1974, it was by  Charan Singh, the RSSB guru at the time. My mind failed to register that when I wrote the post, probably because this person speaks about her disillusionment with Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the…
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Posted inBooks Religions

Yuval Noah Harari: All religions are fake news

Here in the United States it's our misfortune to be suffering through a president who blabs incessantly about "fake news." Which, in his addled mind, means any news that tells the truth about the lies, misdeeds, and unwise policies being foisted on Americans by Donald Trump and his cronies.  But historian Yuval Noah Harari talks about a different sort of fake news in his third book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. As noted in a recent post of mine that included some quotes from Harari's new book, I liked his first books (Sapiens and Homo Deus). This offering from…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB guru owes almost $800 million in fraudulent loans

Here at the Church of the Churchless we look forward to getting back to our usual faithless programming after the Indian financial press stops writing new stories about the alleged financial wrongdoing of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon. But here's a fresh episode in the Dhillon drama that we've been reporting on, a LiveMint story: "Gurinder Singh Dhillon used funds from Ranbaxy sale to buy real estate."Download 'Gurinder Singh Dhillon used funds from Ranbaxy stake sale to buy real estate' Now, defenders of the guru probably will think, what's the big deal with Dhillon buying some…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

David Lane: embrace unknowing, reject perfection

David Lane is a professor of philosophy and sociology whose Neural Surfer web site has an appealing tag line: "Where the Skeptical meets the Mystical."  That's a great summary of how Lane views spirituality. Like me, he's an initiate of Charan Singh, who was the guru of the India-headquartered Radha Soami Satsang Beas organization prior to Gurinder Singh Dhillon -- who has served as the RSSB guru since Charan Singh's death. Lane has an academic interest in the history of RSSB and related Radha Soami sects that far exceeds mine. But we share an interest in the nature of reality,…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Excellent summary of Gurinder Singh Dhillon’s financial wrongdoing

Here's the best summary I've seen yet of the financial fraud that the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, (allegedly) has committed while purporting to serve as the "spiritual" leader of a sect with millions of followers worldwide. (The image below came from a story in an Indian publication that I shared in a previous post.) And the summary you can read below was written by a frequenter commenter on this blog, Spence Tepper. Tepper has been a hospital consultant for 30 years, so he knows how bad it is for the guru and his family to…
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Posted inBooks

Invisibility is a centerpiece of existence

I just started reading a beautifully written book by Akiko Busch about invisibility, "How to Disappear: Notes on Invisibility in a Time of Transparency."  I'm sure I'll have more to say about the book as I get further into it, but here's a taste of Busch's writing from the Introduction. It reminded me of what I said in the post I wrote yesterday about us human beings not being aware of the deep dark unconscious sea that lies beneath the light bright waves of conscious awareness -- and in truth is those waves, since everything arises from the brain's hugely…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories Radha Soami Satsang Beas

My definitive answer to why I left Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Geez, I thought, when I read the comment. Another one!  I have no idea why so many people are so interested in why, after 35 years, I deconverted from being a follower of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), which is headed by a guru devotees consider to be God in human form. But here's the comment by the somewhat weirdly named "Guru." Naturally my second thought was, No way am I going to pick only one option or reply in one sentence. Instead, I'll use this blog post to convey what I hope is the definitive answer to why I…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Being worshipped leads Gurinder Singh Dhillon to behave badly

I no longer believe that any person deserves to be worshipped. Respected, yes. Everybody is deserving of respect. But worship, no.  For a long time, though -- some 35 years -- I was a member of an Indian religious organization (Radha Soami Satsang Beas, or RSSB) headed by a guru who is considered to be God in human form. Just imagine how Christians would act around Jesus if he appeared on Earth. Worshipful, right? Well, that's how RSSB devotees act around Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the current guru.  Recently Dhillon was accused of criminal conduct by his cousin, Malvinder Singh. Defenders…
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